Yeah there is, but we discount Nate's ability because of his behavior and because he was the shortest guy in the dunk contest. Is it fair to call him overrated just because he's shorter? Ever since Mike put him back in the rotation, he's put up decent numbers. Of course I'd take AB over him every day, but I still think Nate deserves more respect than he's given, even if it's through an All-Star Weekend lens.
Which I disagree with also. The vertical and creativity is not overrated. Oh well, I guess we'll never know until Stern puts together some other decent competitors.
They say that Nate is a "great entertainer," but he's more of a gimmicky guy than anything. Last year, he did that all green stuff with sprite. This year, having one of those Gatorade packs right before dunking and then the cheerleaders. "sell out" comes to mind. Did Vince Carter use some stupid prop to draw attention? No. Also, why did nate need to wear his compression padding sleeve in the dunk contest? Further proof that many wear it just because they think it looks cool.
Actually, we were more at odds over Kobe. He was using Kobe's dunk contest victory as evidence that he's not an overrated dunker, whereas I was saying that the quality of competition in said contest was so shoddy that the victory meant nothing, a la Nate Robinson this year. But as far as Nate goes, having three dunk contest wins is going to make him exceptionally overrated solely for the fact that no one else has ever done it. He's a good dunker, but certainly wouldn't stand up against the best ever.
I really like Feigen's idea for improving All-star Saturday night: http://blogs.chron.com/nba/2010/02/rockets_still_talking_and_im_s.html [rquoter] After a Saturday series of events that were among the worst ever of its kind, the call has been issued once again for help. That's what I'm here for. I offered this idea about 10 years ago, and it just keeps getting better with every year that the NBA ignores my advice. The idea is to play simple three-on-three games, pitting teams of players representing their home towns. LA versus the Bay Area. New York versus Boston. DC versus Philly. LeBron doesn't want to dunk? Fine. Players would be asking to be in those games. And they would play to win them. They would trash talk through the season, bringing attention to the event that you just don't get for shooting stars, or whatever they call that thing. You could play those games through the night. Make it an eight-team tournament. Play to five if necessary to keep things moving. Even if the dunk contest is a dud (imagine that), you come back to the court for one last three-on-three game for the tournament title. They would get after it, and the night would be a success. Glad to help. [/rquoter]
i proposed smthg similar. anything to create a final four type of atmosphere. but i dont think it would encourage participation unless there was smthg to gain or lose. i had a point system which would benefit the winners. or decide the finals home court advantage based on the results of east vs west. i like the streetball idea that was proposed better. bring in the best non-nba players to play.
I really like the 3-on-3 idea but I don't think any All-Star event should determine home court advantage in the playoffs/finals. It was a terrible idea for baseball and it would be equally terrible for basketball.
